The Elephant Doctor of India

"The Elephant Doctor of India is the heart-quickening true story of a boy who loved elephants and grew up to forge a maverick path to help them. Dramatic, moving, and packed with fascinating elephant facts, young readers will find inspiration and excitement on every page. No matter what age you are, if you love elephants, you will love this book."—Sy Montgomery, author of The Soul of an Octopus and Kakapo Rescue

Early on a January morning in 2015, a young bull elephant touched on a sagging electric line in the Paneri Tea Plantation in the Udalgari District of Assam, India. The elephant's soft-padded feet conducted the current and the animal fell, kicking in the mud. The local veterinarian called to the scene thought the tusker was going to die. The forest department warden called the one person who could help: Dr. Kushal Konwar Sarma, India's beloved elephant doctor.

The Elephant Doctor of India brings the middle-grade reader into the heart of Assam, a remote land of tea plantations, paddy fields, and ancient forests, to tell the true story of the last viable population of wild Asian elephants and one man who is dedicated to saving them. Author Janie Chodosh spent time with Dr. Sarma and brings his incredible story—and the lives of these magnificent animals—to readers in classrooms everywhere.